Beautiful in Bozeman, Montana

I was privileged this past weekend to speak at a conference sponsored by MORE (Montana Origins Research Effort) and held at Grace Bible Church. I have never been to Montana, but I know I will definitely return. The whole city of Bozeman is surrounded by mountains. Now, I live in Indiana and we have some fairly high hills in that part of the state—but not mountains! No matter where you looked, the view was breathtaking. However, I can’t say I would enjoy all the snow which is on the ground from November to April, according to my hosts. But the snow does provide a nice contrast on the mountains to the lush, dark evergreens.

The conference was titled, “Fact Over Fiction: Countering Myths in Biology” and myself, Dr. Terry Mortenson, and Dr. Werner Gitt were the presenters. We had a good turnout, with a few hundred attending each session. We also had a handful of skeptics that asked some good questions which we were able to address at the Q&A time and afterward.

One young man (probably eight or nine years old) impressed me with his question of how to deal with the teaching of evolution in the public school which he attended. Since I have a daughter in public school, this question was very relevant to me. I told him to learn as much as he possibly could about evolution and to be the creationist in the class that gets 100% on the test about evolution! One can only defend their own position well if he or she knows the counter position well. I also told him to learn the counter arguments from a biblical creation perspective concerning what he was being taught (our Evolution Exposed series is a great tool for this—even for elementary age children with a parent’s assistance).

People were hungry for resources, and we sold out on many items. Two ladies told me that they wished they could take me home so I could answer questions when they had them. I told them the better idea (because I like my own home!) was to get equipped through our resources like books and DVDs and our website. Probably one of my favorite resources is the New Answer Book series. I told them that’s where I look when I have questions about geology, paleontology, and astronomy which are not in my area of expertise. Thanks to all the great people in Bozeman who worked very hard to make this conference a success.

Yesterday was activation day for my cochlear implant. All went well, and I will write more about my “bionic ear” on Thursday.